Shoe



Nov. 2, 1937. cfH. DANIELs y SHOE Filed Aug. 24, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 c. H. DANn-:Ls 2,097,451

SHOE Filed Aug. v24, 1934 v.'z sneet-sneet 2 Nov. 2, 1937.

Patented Nov. 2, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT o Application August 24,

9 Claims. l(Cl. 12-146) built into the upper.

In accordance with the usual practice of shoe appearance as lf the l gether.

It is an object of the present to provide a shoe ally stated, counter.

of the heel end of the last.

Other objects is read in connecti drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a. pla sembly, part being in counter.

Figure 2 is in the quarte Figure 3 is` a. plan view of a section of Figure 1 FFICE SHOE `Claude H.' Daniels,l Wellesley Hills, Mass.

invention,v generhaving a built-in n View of a double quarter asbroken away to expose a builtcounter employed 1934, SeriallNo. 741,197

Figure 5 is aplan view of 'a one-piece upper l illustrating the manner of incorporatinga builtin counter in separate quarter sections.

Figure 6 is a plan view of with the Figure 8 1s a view of .the parts after the separate quarter sections are connected together.

illustrating the condition Figure 10 is a view of the reverse side of the quarter shown in Figure 1.

Figure 11 is a plan view of a vamp for employ# ment with the quarters of Figure 10.

Figure 12 is back shoe embodying the quarters of Figures 1 and 10 and the vamp of Figure 11.

a sectional view taken along line e 12.

a perspective view of a seanless Since the counter is ordinarily relied upon vto I' cause the heel end of a s lshape and stay in hoe to maintain its tratedin Figure 1 a' section of upper material be accomplished in various ways as by molding the assembly, or by cutting and connecting the materials in such a manner as to cause them to A facile and convenient method of shaping the built-in counter is to subject the completed as-V sembly including the built-in counter to the action of steam or a highly humid atmosphere, as mulling, to soften the counter so that whenpermitted to dry upon a last, the counter will conform itself to the shape of the last.

Referring now to the drawings there is illusconstituting both quarters of the shoe together in one piece so as to form a seamless back shoe in a manner familiar to those lskilled in the art. TheV assembly illustrated in Figure l may comprise a quarter i, a lining 2, a counter 3 and a doubler, if desired. The respective layers may be assembled together in the condition shown with the counter centrally situated so as to be properly positioned when the upper is lasted. Each of these parts may be given a coating of adhesive prior to assembly, a suitable adhesive being vulcanized latex, or nitrocellulose cement. i After the parts are assembled together, they subjected to pressure so as to iiatten the same, and securely adhere them together. at this time a series of perforations, such as 4, may -be conveniently formed passing simultaneously through the three layers so as to produce a shoe which is ventilated at the back.

It will be understood that the lining may be in the form of a counter pocket, pensed with entirely. In the latter case the counter will be fastened to the outside section directly as by adhesive or stitching.

In assembling the counter parts, the counter may be located so that the upper edge thereof is slightly, -say 61 below the edge of the quarter. When in this position the counter will not interfere with subsequent application of nish strips or binding. The counter may also be located so that the lower edge thereof is above the lower edge of the quarter, as shown in Figure 1. In this manner, although the counter extends far enough to be there is no excess material and a compact heel seat results. i

As remarked abov the counter as employed in the present invention usual materials, such as ber boardor sole leather or it may be made of fabric which has been suitably double nap fabric of good body but depending in weight upon the amount of stiffness desired may be stiffened as by impregnation with a' suitable stiifener such as a starch solution, glue, casein or the like, care being taken to select a stiffener which is compatible with and will permit latex to adhere to the impregnated fabric. The fabric may thus be stiffened to any extent so long as it does not crack when folded flat. When the interstioes of the fabric have absorbed sufficient of the stiffener to give the desired stiff- If desired,

or may be dislasted over,

may be made ofthe ness when dry, it is permitted to dry and thereafter a surfacing agent, such as latex, is applied.

, The latex may be applied by dipping, spraying or brushing and provides a surface to which adhesive will stick. Moreover, the latex and stiffener may be mixed together and concurrently applied. Various textile fabrics may be used, for instance, duck of suitable weight and mesh fabric, and treated similarly. Such treated fabrics may also be used as a toe stiffener. l

The counter may, furthermore, be formed of metallic mesh, either in the form of wire mesh as shown at 33 in Figure 16 or in the form of thin sheet metal 34 such as aluminum, which' may be perforated with a series of perforations 35 as shown in Figure 1'7. Such metal stifieners as 34 may be formed by pre-perorating sheets of metal and then dieing out the stiffener blanks, whether for toe stiifeners or counters, from the ,perforated sheet, or the blanks may be laid in as without undue precaution in alining the openings with openings 1n the upper sections,

The quarter section I and its lining 2 may then be connected `with a vamp, and the upper ,finished. In accordance with one embodiment of this invention, the connection of the vamp to the quarter may be conveniently accomplished by perextend beyond the terminus of the other atl the part which is to be joined.' This is illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, where the outside section l of the quarter extends beyond the terminus of lining 2 as shown at 2|; while in the case of vamp 22, which is to be connected, the outside section may terminate short of its lining as shown at 23, or vice versa, so as to provide overlapping parts and a shoulderl for positioning the parts relatively. A practical and economical method is to have the extension only on the vamp lining, as'

shown at 23, and makethe quarter lining and The edge of the vamp 22 provides a shoulder be located while the quarter tension 23, and thereafter stitch a finish strip 2l across the joint, one-line of stitching 26 taking through the quarter section and the other line of stitching 25 taking through the vamp section.

This provides a closed upper ready to have its built-in counter conformed as by softening or molding or otherwise, although it may be understood that the quarter with its counter may be conforme before the upper is closed. `If the quarter is conformed by softening by steam or mulling before lasting, the counter will dry out on the last and thus set up conforming to the shape of the last.

The assembly malqhowever, be conformed as by the lapplication of heat and pressure to cause pressure on the upper assembly removed.

It will be understood that many other forms In order to provide a built-in counter without the necessity of the molding scribed,

ade precisely as in the embodiment illustrated, Figure 4, but that it e the last, or in other words,V with its built-in eounter is construction results. Since in accordance with the present invention, the quarter and lining are secured together, as by adhesive, and pressed fiat,

through the various it is really unnecessary to provide the amount of stiffness which is provided by the ordinary counter which is made offibre board or sole leather. Indeed, if there is a doubler present, sufficient stiffness may be imparted to the assembly without requiring the use of a counter, and even when4V a doubler is not present, a piece of woven fabric, such for instance as heavy drill, provides sufiicient stiffness for the counter portion of the shoe when constructed in accordance with the present invention. Moreover, a suitable thermoplastic resin capable of being reduced to sheet form may be employed as the stiifener.

By theexpression built-in counter as used herein is meant that the counter is securely con,

nected between the outside quarter section and its lining (when a lining is employed) in' the flat and so heid with reference to the outside quarter section that the parts do not relatively displace during the lasting operation.

Furthermore, it is advantageous to employ the half counters even when they are not built-in asabove described. 'I'he quarters 21 may thus be connected to their linings 28 at the back seam, for instance, by lines of stitching 29 as shown in Figure 15, so as to be more conveniently handled, while the half-'counters I l and I2 may be inserted in the usual manner, one on each side of the back seam at the time of lasting, as shown in Figure 14. In this case the respective half counters l i and I2 glknot be directly connected together at the From the /foregoing description it is apparent that the present invention contemplates the application of a iiat counter to an upper, and that the counter is built-in and secured to the upper the upper-forming operation bein a shoe which is not only of neat appearance but l is more comfortable to the foot and conforms more perfectly to the last thanone in which a preis provided. Moreover, the procedure of manufacture is such as to permit ventilating openings to be simultaneously perforated layers in the region of the counter while they are fiat. It is to be understood, however, that the respective layers need not be secured together by adhesive, but may be secured together in any other manner, such for instance as by stitching. Moreover, coun as used -herein and in the appended claims is to be understood as descriptive and not in .the limitative sense, lsince it is intended to From the foregoing description it is apparentV A that many modications of theshoe and procedure hereinbefore' described will present themselves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of this invention. It is to be distinctly understood, therefore, that the inventhe term tion is not limited to the specic details of struc- I ture and procedure described, but that such modiilcations and the use of such individual features and sub-combinations of features as do not depart yfrom the spirit of this invention are, although not specifically described herein, contemplated by and within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In the art of making shoes the process comprising, securing a stiffening element of the counter type to the rear portion of a quarter section in the fiat, perforating the assembly, and conforming the assembly to the general contour of the heel end of a last prior to the usual lasting operation. i

2. In the art of making shoes the process comprising, adhesively securing half counters to opposite quarters of a shoe, and connecting the half counters together so as to shape the assembly to the general contour of the heel end of a ast.

3. In the art of making shoes the process comprising, securing a stiifening element of the counter type to the rear portion of a quarter section in the fiat, perforating through the two layers, and lasting the shoe.

4. In the art of making shoes the process comprising, providing quarter sections for a shoe, providing a pair of half-counters for such shoe, securing a half-counter to each quarter section in the fiat, perforating through the assembly, and lasting the shoe.

5. In the art of making shoes the process comprising providing quarter sections for a shoe, providing a pair of half-counters each having an arcuate edge, securing a half-counter to'each quartending toward the rear of the shoe, perforating 6. The process of making shoes as set forth in claim 3 characterized by lthe feature that the counter 4is formed in a single piece of size suiiicient to extend into the region of bothy quarter sections of the shoe.

'1. In the art of making shoes, the process cornprising adhesively uniting a quarter section, quarter lining and a stiifening element of the counter type together in the fiat, perforating through the 8. In the art of making shoes the process comprising providing quarter sections, quarter lining sections and a counter, said counter being in the form of half -counter sections, adhesively uniting a quarter section, quarter lining and counter together in the dat, perforating through the assembly and thereafter completing the shoe. l

9. In the art of making shoes the process comprising providing quarter sections, quarter lining sections and a counter, said counter being in the formv of half -counter sections each having an arcuate rear edge, adhesively uniting said quarter sections, lining and counter to form fiat laminated assemblies, each composed of a quarter section, a lining therefor and a halfcounter, perforating through the assemblies, and

a pair of thereafter connecting the assemblies together 70 

